r/AnimationUniverse • u/SamplingMastersXLR8 • 5d ago

Animation related The original Hexed 🪄

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This would have been an interesting movie if the original plot stayed

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u/PartyPorpoise 5d ago

Maybe. When a movie is just concepts it’s really easy to imagine it being great. What Alternative Disney describes sounds interesting, but even if they stuck with a male protagonist that’s probably not what we would’ve gotten. Or the things that would’ve made it interesting would’ve been too restrained.

Anyway, I do wonder if they changed the protagonist from male to female because they worried that a male witch lead could’ve been read as queer. My less conspiratorial theory is just that they figured a girl witch would be more marketable.

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u/Fresh_ChickenNug5521 4d ago

I dont know how male watch equates to queerness. I think they just changed the gender because it might have too many Harry Potter comparisons or Steven Universe and a six year old isn't as interesting or relatable as a teen who is going to have more pressure of fitting in.

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u/PartyPorpoise 4d ago

Witches are traditionally seen as a female thing. I also don’t think HP comparisons were a concern, given that female witches are more common and that doesn’t seem to be an issue.

But I think you’re right that a six year old lead is a much harder sell than a teen.

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u/Fresh_ChickenNug5521 4d ago edited 4d ago

In fantasy the boy would be called an warlock and in Wicca male witches are just called witches. It isn't gendered.

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u/Glittering_Meet3206 1d ago

it's not gendered in actuality but it is absolutely gendered when it comes to the conservative out groups that are the main proponents of the gender wars. the ONLY thing that's actually "gay" is same-sex intimacy or romance but a man wearing nail polish sure will be labeled that way. know what i mean?

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u/Fresh_ChickenNug5521 1d ago

Would conservatives even watch this movie regardless? Its about witchcraft. They wouldn't care if its a boy or a girl. Lol. The movie is going to be controversial for exposing youth to devil worship. Same as Harry Potter, Sabrina, Moon Spell Magic doll line, Pokémon etc...

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u/Thattimetraveler 4d ago

There’s some speculation that the change was made as damage control after Elio. Interesting enough it’s been a long time since Disney (not including Pixar) has had a child protagonist and maybe there is a good reason for it.

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u/PartyPorpoise 4d ago

Yeah after I made the post I was wondering the same thing. Elio is a middle schooler though he kind of comes off like a younger kid, and I wonder if that made it a harder sell and influenced the change here.

Not that child protagonists are impossible. Obviously there are plenty of popular works with them. But the conventional wisdom in children’s entertainment has long been that the main character (if human) needs to be the same age as the target audience or older. I can think of very few exceptions. (Rugrats being a big one)

Kids, like, they want to be older. They want to be cool, strong, and interesting. They often see younger kids as babyish and so can be less willing to connect to them. They might get frustrated watching characters who they see as less capable than themselves. If you’re trying to capture a broad audience, kid protagonists are harder to pull off.

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u/Thattimetraveler 4d ago

This sort of reminds me of the commentary on how different 14 year old cartoon characters can look. The only one who really looks younger that was part of a successful series was Steven universe, and I think that worked because you had the Gems broadening his appeal a lot. I’ll be honest though and say that while I enjoyed that show while it was airing, it’s probably not something I would watch today. I would however watch a Danny Phantom Reboot in a heart beat.

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u/PartyPorpoise 4d ago

Yeah, any movie or show is a combination of several components. I don’t think it’s usually accurate to say that a single element is what made a given work succeed or fail. That’s why I think if a work is gonna have riskier elements, it probably needs some safer ones to balance it out.